Would You Worship at George Washington's Church?

A church in Alexandria, Virginia where George Washington worshipped is removing a plaque honoring his attendance there to avoid offending visitors and potential new members. But most Americans say, why bother?

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that just 14% of American Adults say they are less likely to attend a church that Washington worshipped in. Slightly more (16%), however, say they are more likely to worship in that church.

For nearly two-out-of-three adults (65%), though, Washington’s attendance would have no impact on their decision whether to go to the church. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on October 30-31, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Eighty-eight percent (88%) of Likely U.S. Voters oppose removing the names of Washington and Thomas Jefferson from public places and taking down statues in their honor because they like several of the other early presidents were slave owners. Ninety-four percent (94%) agree it is better to try to learn from the wrongs of the past than to erase them.

Sizable majorities in nearly every demographic group say their worship decisions would not be affected by where Washington, known since the late 1700s as the Father of Our Country, went to church.

Women feel more strongly that way than men do.

Twenty-four percent (24%) of blacks say they are less likely to attend a church Washington worshipped in, a view shared by 11% of whites and 15% of other minority Americans. But over 60% of all three groups say his attendance would make no difference to them.

The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted on October 30-31, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.